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Monday, April 7, 2014

Welcome to Defense Daily’s Capitol Hill Report. This special e-letter is a synopsis of important defense industry articles previously published in Defense Daily and has been provided on a complimentary basis to an exclusive group of lawmakers and their staffers on Capitol Hill. We hope you enjoy this week’s issue. www.defensedaily.com

How to Keep an Aircraft Carrier: The Navy’s $7 Billion Problem

Congress wants the Navy to keep 11 aircraft carriers in its fleet. The Navy wants to keep 11. Law dictates that the Navy keep 11. And yet, the Navy’s budget plans–assuming that sequestration remains the law of the land–does not include funding to refuel the USS George Washington (CVN-73), instead defueling and inactivating the flattop.

Air Force, DoD Officials Support U.S.-Made Rocket Engine But Have Funding, Industrial Concerns

Air Force and Defense Department space officials agreed the United States ought to consider pursuing a domestic next-generation engine program to replace the Russian-made RD-180, though they’d need to tackle some tough funding and industrial base concerns.

Eight senators asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on April 1 to review the Air Force’s decision to reduce the number of competed Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) missions from 14 to seven during the fiscal years 2015 to 2017 timeframe.

House Republicans Would Keep Partial Sequester Relief in ’15, Undo All Cuts in Outyears

House Republicans released a budget plan for fiscal year 2015 and beyond that keeps defense spending with partial sequester in ’15 but eliminates it completely in FY ’16 and beyond–at the expense of domestic spending, which would see its sequestration cuts more than doubled.

LCS Fared Well In Open Seas War Game, Navy Says

The Navy recently conducted war games involving the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) that showed the ship-class may have a greater capability operating in a blue water open seas and as part of a larger aircraft carrier battle group than previously anticipated, the Navy’s top admiral for surface warfare said last week.

Coast Guard Awards HII $497 Million To Build NSC 7

The Coast Guard on Monday said it awarded shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] a $497 million contract for production of the seventh Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC), leaving just one ship left to be funded and built in the service’s line of new high-endurance cutters.